Art Tatum’s solo piano recordings for Norman Granz’ Clef label, later available on Verve and Pablo, are among the most celebrated and important jazz recordings of all time. Granz purposely rented a Steinway “D” model piano, which had exceptional clarity, so that future generations could clearly hear everything that Tatum did at the keyboard, but in between his selling the entire Clef/Verve catalog to M-G-M in 1961 and his re-purchasing the Tatum recordings to issue on Pablo in 1974, M-G-M lost the bright, clear master tapes and only had their LP masters in somewhat muddy sound. For whatever reason, Granz did not spend money or time to restore their original clear, but I have done so here. Thus for the first time since their original issue, you can now hear the way they were recorded.

Recorded April 22, 1954: 70. Stars Fell on Alabama (Parish-Perkins). 71. Blue Moon (Rodgers-Hart). 72. There’s a Small Hotel (Rodgers-Hart). 73. Caravan (Tizol-Ellington-Mills). 74. The Way You Look Tonight (Kern-Fields). 75. You Go to My Head (Gillespie-Coots). 76. Lover, Come Back to Me (Romberg-Hammerstein). 77. Sophisticated Lady (Ellington-Parish-Mills). 78. Dancing in the Dark (Schwartz-Dietz). 79. Love Me Or Leave Me (Donaldson-Kahn). 80. Cherokee (Ray Noble). 81. These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You) (Strachey-Marvell-Link). 82. Deep Purple (DeRose-Parish). 83. After You’ve Gone (Creamer-Layton). 84. I Didn’t Know What Time it Was (Rodgers-Hart). 85. Somebody Loves Me (Gershwin-McDonald-Sylva). 86. What’s New? (Haggart-Burke). 87. Sweet Lorraine (Burwell-Parish). 88. Crazy Rhythm (Kahn-Meyer-Caesar). 89. Isn’t It Romantic? (Rodgers-Hart). 90. You’re Blasé (Sievier-Hamilton). 91. You’re Mine, You (Green-Heyman). 92. (Back Home Again in) Indiana (Hanley-MacDonald). 93. That Old Feeling (Fain-Brown). 94. Heat Wave (Irving Berlin). 95. She’s Funny That Way (Whiting-Moret) / Art Tatum, piano

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